Man
is a social animal and is naturally communicative. And we find this nature especially pronounced
in a country like India. Indians are generally outspoken, ready to share and
care. For this reason, not surprisingly, the social networking sites have always
been a big hit in India, possibly growing at a faster pace than anywhere else
in the world.Along with its popularity,
the social networking medium also runs a high security risk for the user, as no
messaging service can be stated to be 100% safe, secure and impenetrable. A
service considered secure today could prove to be vulnerable tomorrow.
Technology professionals are constantly casting aspersions on the security
mechanism available, and are never confident about the fool-proof security
strength of any technology.

WhatsApp, in its official website says, “confidentiality
and security are laid down in our DNA”. It adds that from
the very first day it helps “you stay in
touch with your friends, share vital information during a disaster, reunite
divorced families….share personal moments …we have built-in encryption”.
It claims that the photos, videos, calls and documents shared over WhatsApp are
protected against unauthorised access.
It adds that it does not store the messages on its servers. But
the flip side is that this very assurance raises the concern of governments and
investigators, engaged in solving and arresting cyber-crime and combating cyber
terrorism.

There
are interesting debates about lack of security in social networking sites,
especially WhatsApp. In fact, there is a lurking fear as to
whether one can eavesdrop onWhatsApp calls (i.e. intercepted and accessed) even though
WhatsApp assures that the chats and calls are end-to-end encrypted.This
assurance raises the comfort level of WhatsApp users in the sense that even if
anyone tries to intercept messages using stealth technology, he would not be
able to read (i.e. understand) the message. In technical parlance, it means that any chat
message in WhatsApp travels in an encrypted mode, i.e. not in plain text. It
can be decoded and understood only with the help of a specific decryption
methodology only. The comfort one gets
from this assurance is that even if anyone tries to intercept using technology,
he would not be able to read (i.e. understand) the message.

On
the flip side, however, this privacy of messages (which cannot be intercepted
by anyone) can be a major threat to the security of a country. Often , there is criticism that security is breached as terrorists and anti-nationals
exploit these private networking media to exchange security-threatening
messages and instructions among themselves. Fortunately, there are software
tools that can be used for mobile data recovery. These tools can also access
WhatsApp data including stored text and pictures, even if they have been
‘deleted’.

Of late, there have been many other messenger services
emerging, to compete with WhatsApp, such as Telegram, which is gaining
popularity. Telegram initially came up with the unique feature of self-deleting
the message in the recipient’s device too, within a few seconds after the
message is sent and received at the other end.
Recently, WhatsApp too added this facility of ‘delete’ or ‘revoke’ after the message has been sent.
Although it is touted as a useful tool, it is an added nightmare for
cyber-crime investigators because the evidence of messages exchanged between
criminals and terrorists could then be destroyed.

And so, the debate continues on the question: “Which
is supreme – the priority of the nation’s security and sovereignty, OR
individual data privacy”? The judiciary
has repeatedly held that the nation’s security is always supreme and of
paramount importance, compared to individual privacy and data security. With
the Data Privacy Act being discussed for immediate introduction, one hopes that
the legislative provisions will be in place, removing ambiguity in the
interpretation of what individual privacy is, and what national security and
sovereignty is. India, as a nation in
its fast-paced progress in the digital world, anxiously awaits.

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About DiSAI

Digital Security Association of India (DiSAI) is a non-profit Public Trust and NGO (Non-Government Organisation), with Trustees on its board, holding expertise in technology and the academic field. This is the fourth initiative of eMagazine PreSense.

V. Rajendran, Editor of PreSense, is the Founder and Chairman of DiSAI. Prof. Dr R. Jagannathan, Editorial Advisor of PreSense, and former Vice-Chancellor of the Middle East University, UAE and the American Medical University, West Indies, is the President of the new initiative.

Presently, the world is talking about Computer Security, Network Security, Internet Security, System Security, Information security and Cyber Security. With technology penetration in all walks of life, impacting human life globally, safety and security of data in communication including the other aspects associated with life namely, ethical security, societal security, and legal security assume greater significance. DiSAI will embark on a new journey in this direction focussing in this niche area of digital security, involving all the stake holders in the area.

Those interested in getting associated with the initiative, irrespective of their location, may email to Shri V Rajendran, Chairman, DiSAI at info@disai.in or disai.india@gmail.com.